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Overview

Call Number: SC0044

Creator:
Kennedy, Arthur Garfield, 1880-1954.

Title: Arthur Garfield Kennedy papers

Dates: 1903-1954

Physical Description:
13.5 Linear feet

Summary: Personal and professional correspondence, notes, reviews, notebooks, bibliography of writings on the English language, and
other papers. Material relates to specific works of Dr. Kennedy on English philology and current use of English, Stanford
University during World War II, scholarly groups to which Kennedy belonged, Stanford groups, and official Stanford agencies.
Correspondents include Hardin Craig,, Helge Kökeritz, Lucia B. Mirrieless, Clark S. Northrup, Louise Pound, John S. P. Tatlock
and Philip Sheridan.

Language(s): The materials are in English.

Repository:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Green Library

557 Escondido Mall

Stanford, CA 94305-6064

Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu

Phone: (650) 725-1022

URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc

Administrative Information

Provenance

Gift of Kennedy family, 1968.

Information about Access

This collection is open for research.

Ownership & Copyright

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.

Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.

Professor of English Philology at Stanford (1914-1945; emeritus 1945-1954) and Chairman of the English Department (1941-1945).

Arthur Garfield Kennedy was born on June 29, 1880, in Weeping Water, Nebraska. He received his A.B. from Doane College in
1902, and his A.M. degree from the University of Nebraska in 1905. He taught high school English and German until 1912 at
which time he came to Stanford where he received his Ph.D. in English Philology in 1914. He began his career of teaching at
Stanford in 1914 as an instructor, and advanced steadily in the department to the rank of Professor of English Philology in
1929. From 1941 until his retirement in 1945 he was executive head of the department. He died on April 21, 1954.

Dr. Kennedy's several books include a
Bibliography of Writings on the English Language(1927);
A Concordance to the Complete Works of Chaucer, with J.S.P. Tatlock (1927);
Current English (1935);
English Usage (1940); and
A Concise Bibliography for Students of English (1940)

The contents of this collection consists primarily of Dr. Kennedy's correspondence with academic colleagues, though some personal
letters are included. Of special interest is his wartime correspondence with Philip Sheridan, one of his graduate students,
which contains accounts of Stanford and the English department during the war years. Also included in the collection are materials
dealing with Dr. Kennedy's various published works, copie sof his earliest publications on grammar, some grade books from
his years as a teacher, and copies of
A concise Bibliography for Students of English and
Bibliography of Writings on the English Language.

Description of the Collection

Personal and professional correspondence, notes, reviews, notebooks, bibliography of writings on the English language, and
other papers. Material relates to specific works of Dr. Kennedy on English philology and current use of English, Stanford
University during World War II, scholarly groups to which Kennedy belonged, Stanford groups, and official Stanford agencies.
Correspondents include Hardin Craig,, Helge Kökeritz, Lucia B. Mirrieless, Clark S. Northrup, Louise Pound, John S. P. Tatlock
and Philip Sheridan.

Access Terms

Craig, Hardin, 1875-1968.

Kennedy, Arthur Garfield, 1880-1954.

Kökeritz, Helge.

Mirrielees, Lucia B.

Northrup, Clark S.

Pound, Louise, 1872-1958.

Sheridan, Philip.

Stanford University. Department of English. Faculty.

Tatlock, John S. P.

English literature--Study and teaching.

World War, 1939-1945--California--Stanford.

Collection Contents

Papers

Correspondence A – C. Includes among miscellaneous correspondence letters from:

Box 1, Folder 1

Ackermann, Robert W., 1947-50, re
An Index of Arthurian Names in Middle English

Box 1, Folder 1

Alden, Raymond and Donald, 1930-?

Box 1, Folder 1

Bailey, Margery re request for recommendations1920-1928

Box 1, Folder 1

Bonner, Willard D. re conditions in graduate department of English as that time1925

Philip Sheridan was a graduate student of Prof. Kennedy whose studies were interrupted by World War II. Dr. Kennedy's letters
deal extensively with Stanford, in general, and the Department of English, in particular, during the war years. (for more
Sheridan material, see also SC 255 John McClelland Papers)

Office of the President, Stanford University, official correspondence with:

Box 1, Folder 10

Administrative actions relating both to the English Department as a whole and to Dr. Kennedy in particular – salary, departmental
organization, academic council, parking problems, etc., 1917-1953

Stanford Groups and Organizations, membership in and correspondence with:

Box 1, Folder 11

Academic Council

Box 1, Folder 11

Fellowhip Forum

Box 1, Folder 11

The Research Club of Stanford University

Box 1, Folder 11

Residents Club of Palo Alto

Box 1, Folder 11

Stanford Faculty Club

Box 1, Folder 11

Stanford Library Association

American Speech:

Box 2, Folder 12

American Speech was a "quarterly of linguistic usage" to which Dr. Kennedy often contributed reveiws and articles. This folder contains correspondence
with W. Cabell Greet, long-time editor of the magazine, material relating to the bibliography of
American Speech, and other letters and material relating to the quarterly.

Copy of "Forward," clipping of review, Kennedy's directions to the editor, notes involved in the
Bibliography's preparation, critical comments by colleagues

A Concordance to the Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer and to the Raumont of the Rose:
1927

Box 2, Folder 16

Letter to the President of the Carnegie Institution (1916) on "history, present state, and prospects of the Chaucer concordance,"
correspondence with John S. P. Tatlock concerning the book, copy of "Instructions to collaborators," copy of "Chaucer research
in progress in 1941," list of contents of various boxes of materials ready for printing

Notes involved in preparation of
English Usage, correspondence with the publishers, critical comments from colleagues, clipping of a review of the book

The Middle English Dictionary:

Box 2, Folder 19

Correspondence with Clark Northrup, editor, and with others concerned in the publication; copy of "Observations concerning
a standardized spelling for the main entries in the MED;" copy of "an announcement of the Middle English dictionary;" copy
of the reprint,
The Middle English Dictionary, L-Laik; minutes of the committee on the English Period Dictionaries

Thorndike-Barnhart Junior and
Collegiate Dictionaries:

Box 2, Folder 20

Comments made by Kennedy in his capacity as a member of the editorial board, and other correspondence with the publisher1936-1942

Contents also include copy of a paper on need for a bibliography of the English language read at a meeting of the Philological
Association of the Pacific Coast, Nov. 28, 1919; reprint of "A Bibliography of the Enlgish Language" appearing in the Correspondence
section of
Modern Language Notes; samples of prefaces; list of periodicals to be used in work on the Bibliography; table of contents; typographical notes;
note to the editor and/or proofreader; and rules for Index.
1924-1925

Correspondence from academic colleagues re
A Concordance to the Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer1927

Box 3A

Contents also include: copy of "A Biblopgraphy of Writings on the English Language from the Beginning of Printing to the end
of 1922," a note to appear in the Fall Announcement, 1926, Harvard University Press; paper, "The Making of a Bibliography"
(not further identified); review list for book; notes to the editor about corrections; and royalty statements.

Letters to various publishers requesting permission to use copyrighted materials

Box 3A

Contents also include: Agenda (Kennedy's schedule for work on the book); lists of errata; tenative plan of book; sample table
of contents; copy of statement of plans and goals--"A Select Bibliography of Writings on Modern English"; pagination of first
draft; typed comments requested by Ginn and Co. from four authorities in the field; and rejected portions of the manuscript.

Contents also include: copy of pamphlet in memory of Roswell Thornton Pearl (1887-1934), one of Ginn's editors; copies of
announcement of book and advertising circulars; list of periodicals for review; notes and instructions to the editors and/or
proofreaders; and clipping of review in the
San Francisco Examiner.